Before I state anything, I just want to thank Jesus Christ for the opportunity of life and the strength to get through this process. Life is truly a gift from God.

In every group of friends there is the good looking one, the athletic one, the fun one, the quiet one, and of course, there’s the chunky one. I was always the chunky one.

I spent my entire life fluctuating in weight – gaining during times of stress, then running long distances and starving myself to fit into my suit pants again for weddings. It was a burden not only on my body, but on my bank account, as all my clothes would get tight (thankfully the “fitted” look came back into style).

Unfortunately, my favorite foods in life are rice (an Asian staple), soda, pizza, hamburgers, bread, doughnuts, McDonald’s, and any type of dessert. In order to lose weight, I would literally skip meals and run hours on end. I had no idea how much grains and carbohydrates were severely limiting my body shape. For example, I would run 5 miles then drink two sugar-heavy Gatorades, which pretty much would negate my workout. But I had no idea!

Luckily, I randomly read a success story on Mark’s Daily Apple while looking for crash diets online. I was skeptical at first, especially the part about giving up chronic cardio and long distance running, and eating foods with fat, but I was willing to give it a try. Plus, I wanted to impress a girl (it’s always about the girl!) and was the heaviest I had ever been in my life at 210 pounds, at a height of 5’ 8” and a BMI of 31.9 — which meant I was in the “obese” category.

So I set my mind to go all in. I had nothing to lose. I cut my carbohydrates to less than 50 grams per day and increased my caloric intake of fat and protein. That meant no more pizza, hamburgers, soda, rice, doughnuts, bread, pasta, and french fries. I used The Primal Blueprint for all my guidelines (and thankfully the guidelines were free!).

I’m not gonna lie – the first two weeks were absolutely miserable. I think after around seven days I had the notorious “carb flu” and I felt absolutely miserable for a couple days. And I definitely felt like I had lower energy for the first 10 days or so. But it dramatically got better after 14 days, and every day just got easier after that. You just have to pass the first initial hump.

I slowly started to lose weight.

And definitely had days where I failed. (Doughnuts are seriously God’s gift to mankind.)

My typical diet looked like this:

• Breakfast: Three to four eggs, over easy.
• Lunch: Half a bag of frozen broccoli with protein source (either eggs or fish).
• Dinner: Fish or steak, with broccoli or vegetables.

For exercise, I changed from running 30-40 minutes everyday and lifting weights liked I used to, and followed the Primal guidelines – high intensity, shorter time (less than 40 minutes at the gym), interval training, and I sprint one day. I definitely feel stronger and have less chronic pain in my knees. Also, it’s more fun!

Here’s a side by side before and after in 5 months (May 2014 and November 2014):

And 10 months, (current):

I lost about 45 pounds in five months. I’m currently maintaining around 165 pounds, but I definitely gained some muscle weight. Plus, I easily fit into all my size small clothes!

I feel healthier physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I don’t have to buy new clothes all the time. And I feel more energized throughout the day. It is amazing how much diet and exercise can affect your entire lifestyle and I truly believe if I can do it, anybody can do it. I will forever be thankful for Mark’s Daily Apple and all the great resources and advice it offers! I 100% can testify that The Primal Blueprint worked for an ordinary guy like me and believe everyone should try it to change their lives forever!

Still working on the girl though. We need a Primal book for that.

Francis

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